1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a piezoelectric/electrostrictive film element.
2. Description of the Related Art
In one known piezoelectric/electrostrictive film element, a piezoelectric/electrostrictive substance formed on a ceramic substrate of zirconium oxide contains Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 as the main component, and the number of crystals whose particle size in the width direction is larger than in the thickness direction is at least 70% of the number of crystals present in any cross section in the thickness direction (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-185940). This piezoelectric/electrostrictive film element has excellent piezoelectric and electrostrictive characteristics. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-185950 proposes a piezoelectric/electrostrictive film element in which the number of crystal grains exposed at the top surface or the bottom surface is at least 80% of the number of crystal grains present in any cross section in the thickness direction, and the number of crystal grains exposed at both the top surface and the bottom surface is at least 50% of the number of crystal grains present in any cross section in the thickness direction. The piezoelectric/electrostrictive film element has excellent piezoelectric and electrostrictive characteristics and can resist a large number of bending displacements. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-183701 proposes a piezoelectric element that is formed mainly of a piezoelectric ceramic having a perovskite structure, in which the average grain size of the piezoelectric ceramic as viewed from the lamination direction is larger than the thickness of a single piezoelectric ceramic layer, and the crystal grains are oriented. The piezoelectric element has excellent characteristics.